butter up
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A UK attempt to butter up the French leader, perhaps?
From BBC ● May 17, 2025
To get ahead, you can make the marinara base and roasted garlic butter up to a couple days before.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2022
The company’s prepaid Connect plans launched in 2020 and were part of T-Mobile’s efforts to butter up regulators to allow its massive merger with Sprint to go through.
From The Verge ● Mar. 21, 2022
But Manila-based diplomats and scholars have characterized his comments as a shrewd negotiating technique, a way to butter up China without giving the United States the boot — yet.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2016
There was no doubt that he was trying to butter up Dad; he even started to laugh like him, a Santa Claus, Jr., with his “Ho, ho, ho.”
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
